McDowell County Needs Your Leadership!
There are several opportunities to run in 2025!

Seats up for reelection November 2025 include:

Marion City Council (3) - the seat recently vacated by Woody Ayers, and the seats held by Ann Harkey and Chet Effler

Mayor of Marion

Old Fort Alderman (2) - seats currently held by Melvin Lytle and Wayne Stafford

Mayor of Old Fort

Candidate Filing for Odd-Numbered Year Municipal Elections:

The candidate filing period for the 2025 partisan and nonpartisan municipal elections begins at the opening of business on Monday, July 7, 2025, for county boards of elections, and ends at noon on Friday, July 18, 2025, unless otherwise stated in a municipal charter or session law. The deadline to withdraw a notice of candidacy and receive a refund is 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 15, 2025. Candidates should contact their county board of elections to determine the filing fee for their contest.

• NCDP training resources

  • Training slides and video

  • YouTube Training Videos

  • Training Library

• North Carolina State Board of Elections resources (NCSBE)

  • Candidate Resources

  • Campaign Finance Resources

• Other candidate training programs and resources

  • Run for Something: Find a seat in your district https://wherecanirun.org/

  • Lead NC

  • National Democratic Training Committee (NDTC)

  • North Carolina’s Institute of Political Leadership

  • Emily’s List Training Center

  • Lillian’s List training

North Carolina State Board of Elections

McDowell County Board of Elections

North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP)

National Democratic Training Committee (NDTC)

Lead NC Institute